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Port of Call |
LAST UPDATE July 12, 2005
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| site design imagesparkle.com |
| December 28, 2004 |
Rapa Nui (Easter Island) – Conserving Rapa Nui’s environment and culture |
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| Traditional Rapa Nui dancers perform for Peace Boat (Photo by Mizumoto Shiya) |
'Te Pito o Te Henua', or the Navel of the World, is the original name of the isolated Polynesian island of Rapa Nui, whose people are the farthest removed from any other populated area in the world. The mysterious enigma surrounding Rapa Nui island, some 3,700 kilometers of Pacific Ocean away from the South American continent is what makes it so fascinating to the rest of the distant world. Despite being governed by Chile, and now a predominantly Spanish speaking island, indigenous Rapa Nui culture, language and tradition are still strong in the local population, which identifies itself more as Polynesian culture rather than Latin American. Peace Boat participants not only visited the famous stone-head Moai statues of Rapa Nui, but also took part in an exchange programme at “Liceo Lorenzo Baeza Veja”, an inter-cultural school, promoting indigenous culture and language. |
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| Collecting litter at the beach |
The day started off with a trip to Ahu Tonga beach with the local students from Liceo Lorenzo Baeza Veja as part of a beach clean up campaign, which has been part of Peace Boat’s visit to Rapa Nui for years. It was an ice-breaking activity and the youth of the school were just as eager and curious to meet people from other countries as we were to meet them. We collected all kinds of litter, from beer cans to cigarette butts and with ten full bags of rubbish, we made our way to the famous Moai site of Ahu Tongariki |
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| Moai |
On average, the Moai stand 13 feet high and can weigh anything between 14 and 180 tons. They are literally giant heads and small torsos carved from rough, hardened volcanic ash which have puzzled archaeologists and anthropologists since the first European explorers arrived here in 1722. Little is known about the history of the 887 mysterious Moai which punctuate Easter Island’s barren landscape, however they are said to represent the spirits of ancestors, chiefs or high ranking males who were important figures in Rapa Nui society hundreds of years ago. Archaeological research shows that they were carved, erected and transported between 1400 and 1600 AD along the coastline of the island. They are said to be facing inwards to protect the people of the island as their spiritual power (manna) is projected through their eyes, feeding the people not only security but also energy. |
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| The sheer size of the Moai is impressive |
Recent archaeological discoveries have shown that the Moai statues must have been transported by laying cut palm trees down and using them as ‘rollers’ on the ground, so many millennia ago. However, the over-use of trees resulted in the deforestation of the island. Due to lack of resources, a civil war broke out on the island between the residing two tribes. The toppling of the enemy clan’s Moai, dealing a great blow to one’s enemy, left not a single statue standing. Recently restored during the last few decades, natural disasters such as tsunamis and earthquakes have been challenges that the Moai have had to face over the years, yet with persistent effort the statues continue to be slowly re-erected. |
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| Teaching traditional weaving skills (Photo by Mizumoto Shiya) |
After this period of civil conflict, the population of Rapa Nui was almost wiped out with the invasion of the Peruvians who kidnapped large numbers of the people and brought them to Peru as slaves. The small percentage who didn’t die in South America brought back unknown diseases to the island and contaminated the rest of Rapa Nui’s population, reducing it to a mere 200. Shortly after this period in 1888, the Chileans arrived and declared Easter Island their territory. Since then Rapa Nui inhabitants have experienced suppression of their indigenous language and culture, travel restrictions and ineligibility to vote. It wasn’t until the 1960’s that things began to change. |
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| Sharing laughter over some origami (Photo by Mizumoto Shiya) |
Education and preservation of traditional culture are what the Liceo Lorenzo Baeza Veja are trying to do on Rapa Nui island. A quarter of the 4,000 inhabitants on Rapa Nui attend classes at the institution and the younger students’ education is all taught in the Rapa Nui tongue as part of an immersion programme. Their aims are also to educate the youth of Rapa Nui about ecology and using alternative transport to reduce pollution on the island. After an interview with Lili Gonzalez from the school we learned about the eco camp tours they conduct as part of their beach clean up campaign and also about the daily classroom culture clash between the Latin American culture and their Polynesian identity.
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| Peace Boat presented origami Christmas decorations to the school (Photo by Mizumoto Shiya) |
Lili explained that on a daily basis the students have to solve conflicts of Chilean cultural influence and Rapa Nui heritage and traditions. This is why, for both staff and students at the school, the cultural exchange programme with Peace Boat is so important as they get the chance to be exposed to cultural differences. Peace Boat participants brought Japanese calligraphy, songs, games and traditional dresses to the students and the Rapa Nui students shared dances and the traditional art of weaving palm leaves. The exchange was a huge success for all those involved and everyone left having learned a little more about where they each come from and what that means. |
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